Tycobrahe Parapedal

The Tyocbrahe range of effects have become a legend and command large sums of money. They are even included in the 'Hens Teeth' section of Analog Man's Guide To Vintage Effects.

When I purchased my Tycobrahe Parapedal I was unable to find any reviews on the Internet apart from a few Chicago Iron reviews so offer this review to anyone in a similar postition.

Unlike alot of the vintage classics, I struggled to find any famous associations with this pedal except Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, no Claptons or Cobains. True, that has no bearing on whether or not its a great pedal and many of my favourite pedals (Ross Distortion) also have no famous associations but it does usually explain high prices.

Testing Gear:

Line 6 Flextone 3+
Laney valve combo
Bixonic Expandora
Gibson SG


Because of the Black Sabbath connection I decided to review the pedal with the SG and a thick wall of Bixonic distortion and some of the 'meatier' Flextone 3 amp models.

In Use: The pedal has a very short throw especially if your used as I am to Colorsounds and old Morleys. It does have a dc power adapter socket although mine appears not to work although I think this is due to some battery corrosion in the past. The pedal is very quiet in use and although I dont think it is true-bypass, I couldnt notice alot of signal deteriation when the pedal is in bypass.

Sounds: The pedal produces a kind of mixture between a phaser and a wah and although it is certainly quite a unique sound I just dont find it that special. I find the short throw very frustrating as I think it would make the pedal more useable to have a nice big sweep that might accent otherwise un-used frequencies.

Summary: It does produce a unique sound but I do think that this is one of those things that has gained cult status largely due to rarity as opposed to quality. Thats certainly nothing new in the world of collectables but it is nice when a pedal achieves this status due largely to its sound ie. tubescreamers, tonebenders etc.

Score: